Chapter 6: Pay the Price

At this moment, Kaleigh, who had kept her eyes tightly closed, suddenly opened them, her emotions intensifying as she looked at Sophia.

"Awake?" Sophia raised an eyebrow.

"So... that's it," Kaleigh said weakly, pain momentarily forgotten.

Twenty years ago, Kaleigh was six, Conrad was seven, and they attended the same school in a small town in Koginia.

Back then, Conrad was small and introverted, often bullied by older boys from their school. It was Kaleigh who stood up for him, using her Taekwondo postures to chase them away, and then helped him up when he was on the ground.

"Don't be afraid, I'll protect you," she escorted Conrad home, telling jokes to make him laugh.

In the end, when Conrad smiled shyly, Kaleigh patted him on the shoulder.

"When we grow up, it'll be your turn to protect me. I'll be waiting for you to grow up."

However, as they grew up, the person who uttered those words remembered them, while the one who nodded forgot them entirely.

No, it wasn't that he forgot. But he mistook Martha for the one he should try his best to protect.

No matter how many times Kaleigh had explained, he believed she was trying to sow discord between him and Martha.

"Tsk tsk..." Sophia's voice brought Kaleigh's thoughts back to reality.

"Do you know what Conrad likes most about my sister? It's those laughing eyes that resemble the girl who saved him when he was a child... If only I had a pair of those eyes..."

"It's all because my foolish sister couldn't take Conrad's kindness before her death and wanted to tell him the truth... I couldn't let her insane idea go through."

"Unfortunately, I had to make everyone believe you were the only match for my sister's bone marrow. Then I made Conrad watch as my sister died. A double-hit ending, isn't it fantastic?"

Sophia's chilling voice made Kaleigh shudder.

She widened her eyes, as if understanding everything in an instant.

"What... did you do to Martha?" Her face turned pale inch by inch.

"What I did isn't important; what's important is... what you'll do to me..."

Her words barely faded when she picked up a glass from the bedside table, smashed it on the floor, and then used a shard to cut herself.

"Ah, my eyes!" Sophia's screams echoed through the hospital corridor.

Kaleigh watched her in shock, her emotions shifting rapidly.

What was this woman with remarkable acting skills trying to perform now?

"Bang!" The door to the hospital room was abruptly pushed open, and Conrad, who had returned after handling his business, was shocked to see the two women inside. He hurriedly picked up his bloodied sister.

"Kaleigh, what did you do to her?" Conrad demanded, his voice stern.

"Conrad, I just wanted to apologize to Kaleigh on behalf of the Rileys. After all, the child is innocent... but Kaleigh... ouch, it hurts... Conrad, I can't see with my eyes!" Kaleigh's sister said, trembling all over, her voice full of panic.

Listening to Sophia's lies, Kaleigh raised her hand and pointed directly at her. "Sophia, you deceiver!"

"That's enough, Kaleigh!" Conrad shouted loudly, carrying Sophia as he left the room. His eyes held a cold rage. "If anything happens to Sophia's eyes, I won't let you off!"

With those words, he left the hospital room with Sophia in his arms.

Kaleigh sat on the hospital bed, staring at her swollen hand, feeling no pain at all.

The cold spread from her heart to her limbs, freezing her breath. She couldn't help but think, "Conrad, after three years of marriage, did you even let me have a single moment of peace?"

Kaleigh removed the IV needle and used some cotton to stop the bleeding. She tried to find her bag and phone in the room, but couldn't locate them. She wanted to contact Anderson, but it seemed impossible.

After sneaking out of the hospital room without saying a word to him, she knew he must be worried sick.

Kaleigh sighed, and just as she was about to leave the room to borrow a phone from a nurse, the door was pushed open again.

Conrad strode in, his aura radiating a palpable intensity that seemed to drop the room's temperature by ten degrees.

"Come with me to the operating room," he said in a low, commanding tone, grabbing Kaleigh without further explanation.

"What for?" Kaleigh's unease surged.

"Sophia's cornea was scratched by you, and you must make amends for it!" Conrad replied sternly.